Love Hurts
by Catherine Grissom
Summary: Because, really, that's all love is, right? Pain? A 'not so fluffy' what if. R&R please.
1. Love Hurts

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Inu. Song belongs to whoever wrote it._**

**_A/N: This is why I hate plotbunnies in the middle of the night. It's basically a 'what-if' based off of my Psychology text and my Mom's music. The version of the song I used was the EmmyLou Harris/Gram Parsons duet off of EmmyLou's album 'Duets'. Check it out, the harmonies are awesome and the song itself is heartbreaking._**

* * *

Kagome Higurashi was anything but stupid. Which was exactly why she was here today; why she'd left.

She'd waited until the quest was finished, of course; Naraku dead, jewel complete, Inuyasha with a year's supply of ramen, blah blah bliddy blah. Then, in a single moment of complete selfishness, she'd fled.

Two whispered words had erased the jewel: "Be happy."

If someone had asked her in those first weeks why she'd done it, she would have answered that she'd loved him and had known that he could never be happy with her. Now, eight years later, her answer had changed.

Oh, she still would say that she'd loved him, but now she'd also say that she hadn't wanted to deal with the pain that love would bring.

_Love hurts, love scars, love wounds and mars  
Any heart not tough or strong enough  
To take a lot of pain, take a lot of pain  
Love is like a cloud; holds a lot of rain_

Because, really, that's all love is, right? Pain?

_Love hurts, mmm, mmm, love hurts_

Many people, her mother included, had told her that she was too young to be so cynical. Her response was always the same; a small, secretive smile and a murmured 'Perhaps'.

She knew she was right.

Inuyasha and Kikyou had been one of the greatest tragic romances of all time. Hell, they would have made Romeo and Juliet weep. And all that their love had ever brought them was pain.

Ayumi hadn't faired any better in the love department either. She'd married Ryo, her college sweetheart, only to discover that the man and alcohol did not make for a safe home.

Kagome wasn't cynical. She was experienced.

_I'm young I know but even so  
I know a thing or two I learned from you  
I really learned a lot, really learned a lot_

It wasn't puppy love that would do you in either. Puppy love was safe. Puppy love became friendship.

It was passion that would kill you.

Passion. The fabled 'all-encompassing fire'; it would burn you alive from the inside out and still leave you crying for it.

Between the dangerously fulfilling passion and the safely incomplete friendship, there was no mystery as to what she'd take.

_Love is like a stove; burns you when it's hot  
Love hurts, mmm, mmm, love hurts_

* * *

Contrary to common belief, Inuyasha wasn't an idiot either. Sure, he usually chose the 'brawn-over-brains' approach, but he wasn't completely mindless. 

He'd known that she'd leave eventually. He'd even go so far as to say he'd known why.

Over the years, he'd become used to the fact that, for her to be happy, he should have little to no contact with her. It hurt and he was lonely, but so long as she was happy he was content to keep his distance.

_Some fools think of happiness  
Blissfulness, togetherness  
_

Shippou, irritating brat that he was, had begged and pleaded with Inuyasha for nearly ten years to bring Kagome back. The kit would often say that, if Inuyasha really loved the girl, he'd want her with him; he'd _have_ her with him.

Instead of smacking the little twit, the hanyou would only shake his head and say that Shippou would understand when he was older.

Inuyasha wanted that infuriating woman with him almost more than he could stand, but he had to let her go.

Why? Simple. He loved her.

He'd never liked that Hojou kid, but he'd give Kagome a stable life. That was all that anyone could ask for.

_Some fools fool themselves I guess  
But they're not fooling me_

He knew that Kikyou's one-time vision of a perfect, happy life filled with love was a delusion. Love meant sacrifice. Sacrifice meant sorrow.

The arguments that 'All you need is love', 'Love is like oxygen', and 'Love lifts us up where we belong' were inherently flawed.

Kami, he'd hated that damn movie.

It was why he was here, really; to prove to himself that his own little masochistic philosophy was true.

To prove that, where love is concerned, there's no such thing as a happy ending.

_I know it isn't true, know it isn't true  
Love is just a lie made to make you blue  
_

So he'd watch her exchange vows with a man she'd never love. He'd watch as she'd smile and laugh, pretending that this was the happiest day of her life.

It'd kill him inside, but he'd watch.

_Love hurts, mmm, mmm, love hurts_

Because, honestly, all love really was is a fancy word for 'pain'. Right?

_Oh, love hurts_

* * *

**_Author's note 2: In which the author attempts to explain herself: I was randomly flipping through my Psychology text the other day when I stumbled upon a diagram displaying Love as a pyramid of Intimacy, as in trust, Commitment, and Passion. The text explained that Love was common in many combinations of two out of the three, but to find True Love, the three-in-one package deal, was an ideal that was nearly impossible. Cue the hamster in my brain. A quote from my favorite lyricist, "Feeling lonely and content, I believe, is a rare kind of happiness," helped to form Inu's PoV. Add the duet that got stuck in my head at 10:00 PM and you get this...twisted thing that insists on calling itself a ficlet._**


	2. Moonlight

**_Disclaimer: I own neither Inuyasha nor Moonlight. Inuyasha is the intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi. Moonlight is the property of Kamelot._  
**

* * *

**Moonlight**

He remembered very well the sympathetic looks the monk would give him in those first years. Sango would come running out to share some tidbit of news with her husband and, once she was inside, Miroku would turn to him, favor him with a half-smile.

It pissed him off.

Those smiles had lasted over fifty years. They still continued in his mind.

_I have never craved the system's sympathy  
I get restless over pity smiles_

"If you love something," someone had said once. "Let it go. If it returns then it is yours, if it doesn't, it never was."

He'd let her go. Then he'd waited for her to return. For nearly five-hundred years he'd waited.

He'd seen her grandfather born (and was oddly pleased to find that the old man had started out crazy), her father, her mother, and, finally, her.

Then, one day, he made his presence known.

He'd made sure the old man was out. He didn't need to be picking ofuda out of his hair for the next five-hundred years, thank you very much.

He'd known immediately where she'd gotten both her strength and her temper when her father had stood protectively in front of his mate- 'Wife,' he corrected himself. 'Wife.'- and child, demanding to know who the hell the hanyou was.

"A friend," he'd replied simply. "An old friend."

_Some precaution wouldn't harm my history  
If I had the will to wait a little while  
_

"She'll meet someone," he continued. "Might remind you of me a bit."

The setting sun and skeptical looks told him his time was running short.

"Tell-" he cursed his voice for cracking. "Just tell him to tell her. He'll understand."

And with a leap he was gone.

_You cut the silence like a knife  
You know I can't repent for all_

* * *

_**A/N: I wasn't even sure I wanted to continue this one, but the song fit perfectly. So, here you go, a second/final chapter to Love Hurts, and hopefully some closure.**_


End file.
